Dairy
Once-a-day milking: the impacts on Cheddar cheese
Research into milking frequency and Cheddar cheese production has produced some fascinating insights into such a move, Richard Page, a PhD student and Walsh Scholar at Teagasc, tells us more.
10 May 2024
Challenging March hits milk supplies
Recently released data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have pointed to a decline in both the volume of milk and its contained protein delivered to processors and co-ops over the month of March.
09 May 2024
Producing high Commercial Beef Value calves - a guide
This year’s spring calving period has ended on most dairy farms and the breeding season is underway or about to start. Tom Murphy, B&T Dairy Advisor, Teagasc, Galway/Clare, looks at the tools available to dairy farmers to breed quality beef calves from the dairy herd.
09 May 2024
Budgeting feed for next winter
The prolonged and challenging winter has depleted a lot of the silage stocks across the country. An effective tool at quantifying the fodder requirements for your farm this winter is completing a fodder budget, writes Stephen O’Callaghan, Walsh Scholar, Teagasc Meath.
08 May 2024
Bovine Fencing and Meal Bins TAMS 3 Options for Drystock Farmers
The last twelve months has been a year like no other with a number of individual months being the wettest on record. Keith Fahy B & T Drystock Advisor, discusses the challenges faced by farmers, the importance of good forage management, and details on how farmers can access grants under TAMS3.
08 May 2024
Scoring clover and progressing through breeding with John Ryan, Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farmer
Sandra Hayes, Co-Ordinator of the Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme, recently visited monitor farmer John Ryan, where they undertook clover scoring on his farm in Tipperary.
07 May 2024
How to achieve a high level of milk performance over the coming months
With the difficult grazing conditions throughout the spring, it’s no harm to reflect on the last number of months as to what worked well and what can be improved for the future.
07 May 2024
Summer stocking rate effects on cow performance & silage stocks
With Spring milk supply down on many farms due to poor weather conditions this Spring, focus must be on maintaining good cow performance over the next few months. Martina Gormley tells us that summer stocking rate can have a big effect on cow performance.
06 May 2024
A breeding plan to improve beef merit and maintain calving traits
Limerick dairy farmer, Niall Moloney places a firm focus on calving ease and gestation length when selecting beef sires for use on his dairy herd, but that doesn’t mean the beef merit of the calves produced can’t be improved.
04 May 2024
Podcast: Weekly Grass10 Update
On this week’s Grass10 grazing management update, Joseph Dunphy discusses PastureBase data, Dry Matter % and Predicted grass growth, rainfall & soil temperatures for the week.
03 May 2024
Minister Hackett attends first Growing Organics farm walk of 2024
The first in a series, the opening Growing Organics Farm Walk of 2024 was held on the farm of Bill George, Coolanowle Organic Farm, Arles, Co. Laois on May 1, a dairy farmer supplying milk primarily to the Village Dairy.
03 May 2024
Bull teams: Equal usage required to lessen risk
With the breeding season kicking into gear on many farms, Teagasc and ICBF recommend that teams of AI bulls are used when breeding dairy cows and heifers.
01 May 2024
A game of thirds - splitting the beef team by gestation
Milking 170 cows on a 55ha grazing platform in Kilconieron, Co. Galway, David Gannon will follow a beef breeding programme to enhance the beef characteristics and merit of his calves – especially those born in the shoulders of the calving season.
01 May 2024
Shedding light on the cost of lameness
A recent paper published in the Veterinary Ireland Journal has shed light on the potential costs associated with lameness in Irish dairy herds.
30 April 2024
Now is a good time to assess your cash flow
Hopefully the bad weather of spring 2024 is behind us and we will move into more favourable weather for the remainder of the year. Now is a good time to take stock of where the farm sits and the cash position of each farm. Dairy Specialist, Patrick Gowing gives some guidance on what to do.
29 April 2024
DairyBeef 500 Ambassador shares 2024 beef breeding plan
On this week’s episode of the Dairy Edge, Stuart Childs is joined by David Gannon, Aurivo Joint Programme Monitor Farmer and DairyBeef 500 Ambassador, and John McCabe, Monitor Farm advisor with the Aurivo Joint Programme, to discuss the beef breeding plan for David’s farm for 2024.
29 April 2024
Producing quality beef calves to ensure repeat custom
Milking 75 Friesian cows in Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick, Seán Barry is following a dairy-beef breeding programme centred on the use of high Dairy Beef Index sires, with individual bulls selected for heifers, second calvers and mature cows.
29 April 2024
Early May harvest essential for winter milk silage
Profitable winter milk systems rely on the availability of high quality silage, with 75-80DMD targeted to lessen the requirement for concentrate feed over the winter months.
25 April 2024
Adjusting nitrogen applications on white clover swards
When sufficient quantities of white clover are present within grassland swards, farmers can tailor their nitrogen application programmes to make full use of the clover plant’s ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere – thus reducing chemical nitrogen usage and saving on costs.
25 April 2024
Dispelling some of the myths around TB
David Quinn, Superintending Veterinary Inspector at the Department Of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is on this week’s joint episode of the Dairy Edge and the Beef Edge with hosts James Dunne and Catherine Egan to dispel some of the myths around TB (Bovine Tuberculosis).
24 April 2024
The milk production benefits of incorporating white clover in grass swards
Since 2013, researchers in Teagasc Moorepark and Clonakilty have been looking at the benefits incorporating white clover into grass swards can bring. Along with reducing the requirement for chemical nitrogen, milk production benefits have been witnessed.
24 April 2024
Steps to improve the likelihood of success with sexed semen
Sexed semen provides many potential advantages to dairy farmers. The most obvious reason to use sexed semen is the sex bias induced in the calf crop, with 90% of the pregnancies resulting in a heifer birth and only 10% male dairy calves.
22 April 2024
Reducing TB risk
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) provided guidelines on reducing the risk of TB in your herd.
20 April 2024
Signpost farmer update: All set for breeding and trialling plantain
Seán Moher, a dairy farmer Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, is a participant in the Teagasc Signpost Programme and Teagasc/Dairygold Joint Programme. In this update, he outlines his plans for breeding and explains why he's including plantain in his grassland swards.
20 April 2024
Weigh heifers before opting for sexed semen
Earlier housing and a delayed turnout may mean that some dairy replacement heifers are behind target for breeding.
17 April 2024
Extension to Nitrates Derogation application and Dairy Banding deadline
Extensions to the deadlines to submit Nitrates Derogation applications for 2024 and for dairy farmers to confirm their 2024 dairy excretion rate band were today announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D.
17 April 2024
Watch: Preparing for breeding on Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farms
Sandra Hayes, Teagasc/Tirlán Future Farm Programme Co-ordinator, visited a number of demonstration farmers recently to highlight how they are preparing for the upcoming breeding season.
15 April 2024
Ensuring breeding success with maiden heifers
With the difficult conditions at farm level, much of the conversation over the last number of weeks has centred on ensuring the milking herd are properly fed. These conditions have also meant that maiden heifers have remained housed on a lot of farms for longer than normal this spring.
15 April 2024
10 things to consider before breeding season starts
With the breeding season fast approaching on dairy farms, Dr Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer at Teagasc, outlines 10 things to consider before the breeding season starts.
15 April 2024
Cleaning without chlorine
Chlorate residues in milk are a no-no for processors. Farmers, in turn, are concerned about heat-resistant ‘thermoduric’ bacteria. Fortunately ‘chlorine-free’ cleaning has now proven to be very effective in controlling thermoduric bacteria levels in milk.
14 April 2024